At the height of their New Year's Eve party Lily says she's leaving him. David cries out in fear and surprise, "Why!?", nevertheless continuing to videotape as we hear David's thoughts that "most people would have stopped filming then... but I didn't want to come out from behind that camera... because then it would be real." Her response to his question as to why she is leaving is "watch the videotapes," as she walks out the door. We watch with David - fascinated, occasionally embarrassed, and often horrified as their life together is slowly unfurled before us through years of videotapes. It has been this young man's life's work to capture every moment of their relationship on tape. Video is both his vocation, through taping bar mitzvah's and weddings, "the happy moments of people's lives", and his avocation as he relentlessly records every detail of his life with Lily. With David we witness the happy times on vacation in Paris and Mexico, the silly times in the early stages of their relationship, going to the ball game, learning to roller blade, and the more serious times when discussions of religious differences are brought up but never really settled. We watch as voyeurs in the private moments that are not meant to be shared, the ugly moments when David and Lily are not at their best, the true to life times that we all painfully recognize as moments where the participants might not want a videotape to be recording for posterity. As David watches his life unfold before him, searching for clues to the breakup, we search as well, wanting to help him figure out what went wrong. He finds pieces that fit, the constant videotaping, his controlling her, his lack of ambition; but he also sees their laughter and fun, and love. David's friends try to help him, each giving advise that is clearly of no help. A couple so in love he can barely stand to be near them fruitlessly tries to set him up, another friend crassly suggests sampling the smorgasbord of women out there, a helpful florist insists that cactus is the plant to buy for your true love as a symbol of strength and longevity, and a self-help analyst suggests thinking "I want to go shopping" when David's really thinking "I want to die." When Lily tells David she is pregnant and that she does not want him to be a part of her's or the baby's life he is overwhelmed. His loss is complete. As David discovers Lily leaving her house with another man, he can barely contain his rage and powerlessness. Screaming, "I want to go shopping," he runs through a parking lot in helpless fury. Returning to his home he has a revelation, finally recognizing what it was Lily wanted him to see in the tapes. He turns on the camera one more time to record for her, his realization that people grow and change in relationships. Lily changed, but he did not. He accepts now that he cannot be a part of her life, yet he cannot accept being excluded from the baby's life. He wants to be a father, and if he cannot then he will sleep through this horrible helplessness. In his deepest despair we hear David's thoughts "no one needs me, not Lily, not the baby, not even me. Some of you know what I'm talking about. The fear of being alone is worse than not being at all." David then takes a handful of pills. Looking at his answering machine one last time, he sees the light blinking. It is a message from Lily saying she knows they will never be together again, but that she also knows he will be a wonderful father for their child. David realizes what he is about to miss by going "to sleep" and struggles to throw up the pills, succeeding at last. Finally, Lily embraces David, and having witnessed the videotapes of their life together we recognize the simple tenderness of this moment as a closure to their life together, but also as a true beginning to their life apart. Click Here To Buy SHOOTING LILY on VHS RIGHT NOW!
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David Hitchcock
falls apart. He neglects work, friends, and hygiene as he focuses solely on unearthing
what motivated his wife, Lily, to betray his love.
